Simon RushworthBad Touch – Kiss The Sky (Marshall Records)
Bad Touch have found the Midas touch.
Five years ago debut album Halfway Home hinted at something special.
But could serious potential become proven quality?
Kiss The Sky is the definitive answer.
It’s every classic rock fan’s dream.
A heady fusion of 70s groove, 80s sass and 21st century swagger.
Thirteen tracks laced with burning ambition and bullish self-confidence.
And a production that perfectly captures the live intensity of these hard-gigging heroes.
In an exclusive interview with Rushonrock, guitarist Seeks revealed a fresh focus on songwriting underpinned the Kiss The Sky sessions.
A band boasting a reputation for its spellbinding shows wanted to step up a gear in the studio.
A gear?
Bad Touch have gone from first to fifth in the blink of an eye.
Dig out 2018’s Shake A Leg: Seeks and co. sound like a different band.
The progression is almost implausible.
Frontman Stevie Westwood’s nuanced vocals are stunning from start to finish.
Seeks and Daniel Glendinning juxtapose honey-soaked hooks with razor-sharp riffs.
And the rhythm section of Michael Bailey and George Drewry barely pauses for breath.
Bad Touch have become an unbreakable unit.
A reassuringly robust gang of rock and roll brothers.
And the scene leaders born to blaze a trail for the New Wave Of Classic Rock.
In the past, Westwood has failed to convince on a Bad Touch ballad.
Not here.
See You Again is nothing short of sublime.
But Something About Your Kiss is something else.
What a way to call time on a quite remarkable record.
Prior to that stirring set closer, the highlights come thick and fast.
I Get High has a hazy, crazy Black Crowes vibe at its beating heart.
Strut evokes Blackberry Smoke at their smouldering best.
And reworked cover I’ve Got The Music In Me might well be the best rock and roll song we’ve heard all year.
Gospel-tinged backing vocals, a horn section and a wonderful turn from the irrepressible Westwood make for a tune that’s as spontaneous as it is spectacular.
A Touch too much?
We can’t get enough.
On Kiss The Sky, Norfolk’s finest reached for the sky. They got there…with plenty of room to spare.
